Letter: County needs improved animal control

County needs improved animal control

EDITOR: On Wednesday morning, hundreds of people gathered at the Marathon County Courthouse to demand justice for Mary, the dog whose life was ended by a series of senseless acts of cruelty, according to police.

Each year, Marathon County dispatch receives nearly 2,000 calls about incidents involving cats and dogs. Unfortunately, with all the priorities law enforcement faces, those howling animal calls are too often set aside - and, potentially, the cries of another Mary go uninvestigated.

Right now we have no meaningful animal control and welfare program in this county. Even if we do improve our laws, there is no one assigned to enforce them.

Since August, I have been serving as a citizen member of Wausau's subcommittee on animal control and welare. Our work is complete and we have recommended that three people be hired to staff this function for the whole county.

Here is the tricky part: State law makes animal control a municipal responsibility. The county's 62 cities, villages and towns must act in cooperation.

That is why I am calling on every local government in Marathon County to adopt a "Mary's Law" before the end of the year. These governments should raise their pet license fees by $5 for spayed or neutered animals and $10 per unaltered pet, and commit that money to an animal control program.

There is something citizens can do, too. Please pay your pet license fees. Right now only 1 in 4 dog owners in Marathon County buys a license. We can do better.

We cannot continue to let these calls go unanswered.

Becky McElhaney,

Wausau

Editor's note: The Marathon County animal control task force meets at 5 p.m. Monday at the Sheriff's Training and Resource Center, 7255 Stewart Ave. in Wausau. The meeting is open to the public.

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Letter: County needs improved animal control

EDITOR: On Wednesday morning, hundreds of people gathered at the Marathon County Courthouse to demand justice for Mary, the dog whose life was ended by a series of senseless acts of cruelty,

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